Our house sale fell through, so we decided to move the boys shared bedroom to the back of our house, to a light bright third floor room. It’s westerly facing and gets so much sunshine, meaning they get a bigger, lighter bedroom for all their treasures.

Barney (3) and Felix (6) are happy sharing a room, and both enjoy the companionship. Now that we have a little girl, Willa (7 months) we wanted to give her a space of her own and I’ve now created a space for her in the boys old room. Our house is still on the market, but I felt it was important that they all had lovely rooms so they feel secure and happy at home.

I was keen to use many of the beautiful interior accessories we had already amassed so brought our beautiful world rug back out (from scandiborn.co.uk) which is a brilliant neutral backdrop for pops of colour.

I’ve recently discovered a real gem of an online shop, called The Little Baby Company. On it I found the perfect cushion for the boys- a grey mountain by Fabelab, which is organic cotton and so soft. I’ve also been coveting one of the double sided happy/sad pillow cases for the boys bunk bed which I also found there. Their bed is just a simple wooden bed from Ikea, which we have painted in Farrow and Ball Lamp Room Grey. It was black previously, but I wanted to achieve a lighter, softer look. Felix was desperate for somewhere to have his books to read in bed, so I screwed a knob into his bed frame and attached an Olli Ella book basket on, which has a leather loop so is ideal, so no more sleeping with heavy books in his bed! The cloud light by A Lovely Little Company makes the perfect reading companion and has a switch so that he can read for a little bit longer after Barney has fallen asleep.

To the bottom bunk, I sourced a grey ‘cross stitch’ world map which comes complete with wooden hanger. I found this online from Urban Outfitters which always has a few home gems to be discovered (the bedding is fantastic from there too). Cosy cushions in monochrome from Ella and the Roo and softies from Lucky Boy Sunday complete the look along with a new grey bedding set by By Graziela.

On the back wall, we have a beautiful kids desk from Plyconic. These kids desks can be fitted together in minutes and are incredibly tactile and sturdy. So that the boys can display keepsakes and their artwork, I have placed a Block Design white metal grid above it which I found at This Modern Life. It’s incredibly versatile and lots of fun.

It can be a struggle to find innovative and fun storage for the home, looking in conventional places. We have approximately 500000 children’s books (it’s an addiction) so finding homes for them is tricky. Our Ooh Noo storage box on wheels (find them at scandiborn.co.uk) has made a brilliant home for quite a few of the boy’s book collection, and if we were staying in our house I’d find space on a wall to do the Ikea Ribba book shelves again, but I’m loathe to drill more holes in the walls in case we sell in the next few weeks.

The boys room is the perfect backdrop for some of our awesome Djeco toys. Our car track took minutes to make, can be stored away in seconds and is a massive success with the boys.

Barney is a huge fan of his pull along train, which is a lovely gift idea, and we found it at The Little Baby Company, who has a large selection of Djeco. They are actually interesting to kids unlinke many stylish wood toys, and are robust enough to be played with on repeat!

Willa’s Room might be based around a colour palette of modern pastel, with the palest of grey walls and a blush pink house shaped paint relief- colour note: Farrow and Ball Pink Ground (a dusty blush)

We may strip the carpets and paint the floor, and use a circular rug in twisted pastel hues from Bloomingville to tie in the scheme and give some warmth and texture.
I sourced our rug from The Scandinavian Design Centre .

Also on the floor will be Willa’s Miffy light which has a lovely dimmer switch which will keep her room cosy at night.

Toy storage for her softies will come in the form of Ferm Living grid bag, which has luxe leather handles and is deep enough to store a generous amount of her squishy toys! It’s also safe for her to empty and pull whilst she’s tiny.

On the walls.

I’ve invested in yet another beautiful print by Pax+Hart (we already have several and I’m a huge fan). This time I’ve gone for the Sunday Swans and have found a really good UK stockist of all the Pax and Hart prints (including the ones trickier to source) and other nursery decor which is The Little Baby Company . I can’t decide to frame it in white or use a wooden magnet hanger, I think I’ll wait until we decorate.

Not shown will be the front walls which I plan to shelve with Ribba shelves from Ikea for some of Willa’s beautiful story book collection, we have all the collection of the ‘Little people, big dreams’ to read to her.

For the ceiling light in Willa’s Room I wanted to create a soft cloud effect and sourced a feathery fluffy feminine classic light- I went with the Vita EOS light shade which you can find at Molly Meg in the UK.

Adding some drama and more light to the room comes in the form of looped white festoon garland which I may hang from a wooden hook or peg, or perhaps the wall mountable ring from Ferm Living.

Willa’s existing white ash String Shelves may be hung above the cot to display her pretty knock knacks, keeping it clean and uncluttered.

We will buy a simple white wardrobe from Ikea to store her clothes as there will be enough going on in the room- it’s only a small space so we wanted to keep it clean and bright.

Our friends at Tobias and the Bear launched their eagerly anticipated Mr Men collection this week and we couldn’t wait to try on our ‘ Atishoo ‘ sweatshirt (image for the design features in the Mr Sneeze storybook ) which arrived for Barney.

The collection uses some original retro graphics from the Mr Men archives which are screen printed with safe, water based inks which are designed and made in Britain.

Hurrah for the new Tobias and the Bear collection!

As you can see, Barney was very happy to get his super soft snuggly sweater on.

We love the whole collection which is filled with splashes of colour, and gentle monochrome styles with comic book strip style outlines of the Mr Men.

We have also been building dens at home, with our colourful play tent from Djeco and have adopted a pet called ‘Billy the Bunny’!

Easy to put up ( just a few simple plastic poles) and easy to put away, we plugged in some festoon lights and threw our cushion collection in and voila! a fun little place to read books, snuggle down or play make believe. At £49.99 it’s great value for an easy to store play tent.

A little hideaway by Djeco.

Pull and hop bunny comes from bobbyrabbit.co.uk and is £35. He hops along and has been very popular with Barney. He’s by KidO and is a very maintenance free pet!

When we got a message from the lovely people at sebandcharliedesign we were instant fans. They are doing something mega great which is launching their ‘ Let’s play sleeping lions’ print, and £10 from every sale goes to either the NSPCC or WWF depending on your preference and its limited edition, just 50 available so it’s not going to be about for long.

The Scandi styling of the print is instantly compatible with our kids room, is completely gender neutral and features plenty of colour to keep the children happy. It’s beautifully printed onto a high quality thick linen card and is standard 50x70cm poster size- we just used a white IKEA frame, but you can also order the print pre-framed to make things easy.

When I first created Velveteen Babies, I began following a magical blog, full of the nicest kids-design discoveries, brands and shops that I immediately had to go and browse. This blog was called Bobby Rabbit and it was full of little treasures (including a post on Velveteen Babies!)

Nikki of Bobby Rabbit has, for the last year, turned her passion for all things kids-design into an appealing and stylish online shop full of many of the beautiful and unique things that Nikki had been discovering along the way.

We are big fans of the Bobby Rabbit shop and have been pulling together a gift guide below with some of our favourite treasures, many of which we are lucky to have in our own home.

One of Bobby Rabbit’s bestselling brands are the incredible Playforever cars. These art toys are one of my personal favorites and we have some squirreled away for my Son’s birthday which is coming up. The quality, workmanship and size makes them something to play with, but also to treasure forever. They also make a perfect gift for any vehicle loving child (or grown-up!). They are designed in the U.K and of the most exceptional quality.

Nikki takes such care in sourcing her stock, and one of the lovely little items she sells is the sleepy bunny. They are available in a soft pink or in grey and are £22. They are extra special because they are lovingly created in Turkey by a community of mothers- women who live in the outskirts of Istanbul and who, in many cases have no other means of making an income for their families. These bunnies are made from the softest organic yarn which is GOTS certified and they are suitable from birth.

There’s an exciting new range of kids bedding in town, (well, online) and it’s got all the sartorial features we want for our children’s room. Launched by Johanna Franks through her emporium lovefrankie.com with only kids in mind, this new range appeals to our small people but also keeps design loving big people equally happy.

‘Good Vibes’ monochrome duvet set

Felix and Barney are my reliable product enthusiasts and they definitely get a massive thumbs up from them. Made from 100% super soft cotton and designed in the UK, they are kind on the small ones skin and feel luxe.

Felix’s favourite is the super colourful and fun Junk Food Deluxe set which has enough bright rainbowy goodness and tongue in cheek humourous illustration to satisfy every kid. We styled it up with monochrome and pops of colour.

Lovingly created by Erin in London, UK, Too Many Pjs is a gem of a small business with an array of modern handcrafted patchwork products in their Etsy shop.

Erin’s background is textile design and she’s worked freelance for the likes of Roland Mouret, Joseph and Alexander McQueen so she knows a thing or two!

After the birth of her first child, Erin made a playmat using some of the fabrics she had designed and Too Many PJs was born after so many of her friends started asking for their own version.

Erin believes wholeheartedly in making sure her products are of the finest quality whilst marrying a contemporary design concept, and textures and colours that will appeal to the whole family.

The mix of print, texture and colour is perfect for stimulating and delighting babies, so the patchwork playmates are a fantastic alternative to the garish ones from the high street.

Erin also handprints canvas and creates minimalist styled cushions and play blocks which are created in her studio. The play blocks are created with lowercase letters and have sides of textured material which are ideal for little ones and the cushions are sold in patchwork style or as a clean minimal design shown above.

Too Many PJs can be found at www.toomanypjs.com which links to their Etsy shop where you can view and purchase the range.

We are doing our first drop of superhero goodies into our new webshop later today. Our bestselling postcards, storm clouds, monochrome drops and Superhero garlands will finally be in stock (probably not for long!)

I’ve bribed my smallest boy to help me show our monochrome collection off- luckily he was decked in one of his Beau Loves outfits which was ideal! (We can’t wait for the new collection).

The Superhero garland was one of my very first products, two years ago. Back then it was really tricky to find monochrome kids room accessories so I decided to make my own.. which turned into this business.

Making a kids space that brings joy to children and adults alike can be tricky, but by keeping walls and flooring clean and neutral you can add pops of colour and fun accessories.

Our Ferm living tent is well loved and a few years old now, but the kids still enjoy playing in it. We’ve adorned ours with our monochrome droplet garland, and added a Mini Willa poster and Superhero garland to break up our grey walls.

We’ve added pops of bright yellow which works so well with grey and monochrome with a Mama Designs blanket and a yellow lightning bolt light from Ivy Cabin.

‘ Oh please, oh please, we beg, we pray, go throw your TV set away, and in its place you can install, a lovely bookshelf on wall.’ – Roald Dahl.

Ok, so we have to compromise, and we do have a TV, but books are a massive part of the boy’s childhood.

I’ve always been passionate about finding beautiful books, with elements of design which marry with entertaining and spell binding content.

I was brought up with some beautiful books which I still treasure, and I wanted my children to also learn the joy of reading, listening, and allowing their imagination to take them to magical places.

Fortunately we stumbled across Smallprint books through Instagram. I’m a fierce advocate of ‘Make it a rule never to give a child a book you would not read yourself’ – George Bernard Shaw. As we believe fiercely in marrying great design with delighting children, Smallprint Books has exactly the same ethos.

The website is easy to navigate, and we found the age appropriate sections particularly helpful.

Each of the titles on our bookshelves can be found at smallprint books.

Books are easy to chose based on clear pictures and descriptions and one of our first (and most treasured books by Felix) was Pierre and the Maze Detective by Hiro Kamigaki + IC4Design. The book features 15 full spread intricate illustrations of intricate, magical mazes. It keeps Felix fascinated for ages and he loves discovering things when he sits and reads it with his dad.

We love it so much that we’ve also bought it as a gift for one of our friends. Smallprint (very convieniently) offer a gift wrap service which made it easy as we were on holiday when I needed a present fix!

Recently, we ordered a couple of new books and were sent Mamoko which is a different concept for a kids book- which has gone down an absolute storm.

Mamoko is a book without words, where the reader (generally my five year old) becomes the story teller. At the beginning of the book, there is a description of all the characters which can be spotted and followed on each page, each doing funny or nutty things.

Felix absolutely loves choosing a character to follow and making up his own version of what they are up to. As a parent I love hearing his stories and seeing how absorbed he is when he’s looking at the beautiful and bright illustrations.

It’s a hit with my husband too and they both enjoy looking at it together and choosing their favourite character to follow (there’s a whole page full so always someone or something new to follow or find).

It’s even popular with my two year old who loves flicking through the thick pages and looking at all the illustrations!

All of the books you see on our white shelves in the boy’s room are available from Smallprint online and there’s a 10% discount when you sign up for their newsletter.

Visit smallprint-online.com to take a look and discover some magical books your children (and you) won’t want to put down.

Liberty prints are heavily influencing the world of children’s clothing and interiors, so

I wanted to bring you my round up of all the Liberty print finds in kids design. Classic Liberty print is reaching all facets of children’s interiors and clothing and I can see no sign of this trend abating. Mixing Liberty print with other natural materials such as linen and pure wool is ideal for creating a classic, timeless children’s comfort space.

I have found beautiful bedding from Coco and Wolf and also a high street buy from La Redoute. Both look best teamed with different textures and layers, rather than ‘matchy matchy’. Coco and Wolf with Little B have some beautiful swan cushions and pillowcases so if you just wanted to update existing bedding with a few touches of print, then this would work really well. Also notable from Coco and Wolf with little B are the changing mat covers In a choice of fabrics.

Swan cushion from the Little B range by Coco and Wolf.

Liberty Print bedset from La Redoute

Other innovative ways to bring a touch of print to your nursery or children’s interior are the lovely name wire signs from Little Cloud. These pretty name signs would look adorable hung above a bed head or on a shelf. I’m going to treat the baby to one nearer the time. Also from Little Cloud are the lovely moon wall hangings, they would look perfect in a child’s room with one of our Liberty collection garlands, it’s perfect to mix and match prints as long as the base colours are soft and neutral.

Little Cloud also have a great range of cushions, hair clips and crowns by the amazing Fable Heart and delivery is free within the U.K.

Pretty Moon wall hanging by Little Cloud

lovely Liberty name signs from Little Cloud

Velveteen Babies Betsy Cloud garland. The raffia bag is from The Tipi and all moccasins throughout are by Wolfie and Willow.

I’ve also fallen in love with many small businesses producing the most lovely Liberty print baby clothing.

My most recent find is Olivier Baby who have a sweet selection of rompers, bloomers, dresses and tops in a choice of prints and linens with accessories such as ribbed tights and knitted bonnets to complement the range. They have a flash sale on some of the range so take a peek!

with a huge range of beautifully made children’s clothing encapsulating the very best of the Liberty print range.

We love the little bloomers and tie top summer suits, perfect for older babies with plenty of leg rolls!

Coco and Wolf bloomers

Betsy romper £42 Coco and Wolf

Bonnets are also crucial to Bebe styling too. I’ve already bought a smal stash from Briar Handmade (from Mama Owl in the U.K) and they come in a wide range of colours, prints and sizes to suit all little heads.

Briar Handmade Bonnets

Also noteworthy are the sweet bonnets and appliqué baby vests and T-shirts from Magnificent Stanley. This UK small business is run by Becky who handcrafts each item from her studio in Lewes, East Sussex.

bonnets and tees from Magnificent Stanley

Finally, for a seriously budget friendly take on Liberty print, head to Uniqlo where they have a limited edition Liberty X Uniqlo collection. Girls dresses are from £9.90 and double baby vest sets just £7.90. There are styles for both sexes and also a women’s collection.

Liberty X Uniqlo baby vests

Below you’ll find a few more preview pictures of our new Velveteen Babies does Liberty collection. The garland styles will also be available in the other prints, and will launch in my Etsy shop on the 30th July. There will be limited quantities of each design and print so keep an eye out for our launch announcement.